Note: To play Jugurtha, you need a copy of Caesar; and although you can play the Muthul scenario with Caesar only, you need SPQR to play it historically.

Jugurtha allows players to simulate the two key battles of the Jugurthine War (112-105BC), in which Rome expanded to take virtually all of North Africa, destroying, in the process, the once-proud kingdom of Numidia.

The Jugurthine War is also where Gaius Marius gained the fame that propelled him to his string of dictator-like consulships and his transformation of the Roman Army into a fully professional cohort-oriented machine. The transformation from the days of the maniple had begun with Scipio Africanus. Many of these changes were probably in place (it is very difficult to tell) by the time Marius assumed command; our best guess is that he simply made them legal, implementing a few of his own at the same time. Thus the Roman armies you have before you are pretty much the same that Caesar fought with fifty years later.

Jugurtha also gives gamers something they rarely see in ancient world battles: guerilla warfare. Here's a rare chance to test your on-field maneuver capabilities. In addition, the Numidian forces are rather different from anything else we've seen: almost entirely light in nature, they rely on speed and mobility more than anything else.